For something different:
Bueller and McLovin were saved by Peggy, a former grad student of my partner. She is a cat rescuer. A semi-feral colony of cats was living around a house a couple blocks from Peggy. The fellow who lived in that house was very old and ill and he put out food but did not look after the cats. He passed away and the cats were completely untended. Peggy slowly nabbed them one or two at a time (she eventually did save the colony). Naomi, my partner, and I saw pictures of the little boys and went over to look. We had lost a couple of beloved cats over the previous two years and were ready to think about new ones.
These boys, now 2, are the sweetest, most playful, funny pets I have ever had. I cannot even think of a long vacation because being away form them would hurt too much. They are delightful, beautiful companions and the best part of my day is playing our nightly “getting ready for bed” games, which include lots of hugs and scratches (of them, not me, although McLovin tends to hug back).
Bueller is laying with his back to the camera and McLovin is looking you in the eye. They are less than 1 in this photo.
Love that look.
lee
Very cute kitties.
McLovin looks to be polydactyl.
Comrade Javamanphil
Ha! We have a cow cat with extra toes too. Love that.
J.
Aw, what sweet cats. Hope someone adopts them soon.
Jennifer
Now THERE are some excellent cat names. Well done!
Our first kitty was a polydactyl, and would wrap her paw around your finger like she was holding it with her hand.
merrinc
Those are very handsome boys. We have a tuxedo cat and he is very affectionate. And very vocal!
A couple nights ago we were at Petco picking up some supplies and stopped to look at the cats for adoption. (I try not to because it makes me sad but my daughter always insists.)
One cage held a gorgeous black and white ragdoll/Maine Coon mix, fast asleep. I made the mistake of reading the rescue group’s write up on her. After 5 years, her human got a “new beau” and when he claimed to be allergic to the kitteh, the sorry excuse for a human gave her away. (Cannot fathom this reasoning. Just cannot. Could the beau not medicate himself? Or just stop breathing around the cat?) The rescue group picked her up from the overcrowded local animal shelter.
For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about her. We are a three cat, one dog household, all rescues. We don’t *need* another cat. But if she’s not gone by Christmas, I’m going back for her.
Jennifer
@merrinc:
You know…I’d never do that.
I had a pet Dwarf bunny when I met my husband. He hated the thing. She was 3 when I met him. She was 6 when we got married. She was 13 years old when she died. But she was part of the package. He contented himself with telling me regularly that I was unfairly confining a creature to a cage that obviously needed to run outside…and be caught by a hawk.
I would just have real, real trouble getting rid of a pet like that. The pet was there first.
Violet
That look is awesome! McLovin just needs his Hawaii drivers license and he’s good to go! They’re beautiful.
I got to visit a friend’s puppy today after she came home from the groomer’s. She’s all blow dried and had a little bow in her fur. Hilarious. She’s so sweet. I really want a dog.
Just Some Fuckhead
How about some pictures of dead cats for us progressives?
Violet
@merrinc:
I have a male friend who is extremely allergic to cats. It really cut into his dating because he didn’t want to date women who had cats. He could medicate himself, but his allergy was so bad that should he’d have to stay medicated all the time if he spent any time around someone with a cat, and he didn’t want to live like that. So he made a point of not dating anyone with cats. It kind of sucked for him. But he wouldn’t think that anyone should get rid of their pets. He knew it just limited his options.
Blue Raven
@merrinc: Ragdoll/Maine coon? OMG. That would be my perfect cat, if I had room and money. Love both breeds. Must be a cat to make Tunch look normal, but ooh.
jeffreyw
Yay! a kitteh thread at last. I’m plumb tuckered.
jean
McLovin looks to be a righty.
AnneS
I’m mesmerized by McLovin’s ear whiskers. What a sweet little guy!
kommrade reproductive vigor
Cats with opposable thumbs worry me. I mean, I have three cats, they’re great pets. For cats.
But if they’re also insane. Hate to think of what they’d do with thumbs.
Demo Woman
The kitties are so sweet.
Tomorrow maybe we can have pictures of that great rescued pup, Lily, frolicking in the snow.
Tx Expat
@merrinc:
I hate to hear about people giving their pets back to animal shelters, but speaking as someone who has severe allergies that excuse could be legit. Although in my case I just won’t date a person with a cat because I would hate to be put in that situation.
I like cats fine and wouldn’t mind having one as a pet (they would work with my lifestyle much better than a dog), but I can’t be around them for more than a few minutes before I am a sneezy, snotty, wheezing mess – and with medication I am still all of the above yet whoozy. Even when I got allergy shots, which fixed almost everything else I was allergic to, cats still made me, literally, sick.
OTOH, maybe the BF didn’t like cats and the woman gave her pet to the shelter in order to appease him in which case she is a class-A jerk.
GReynoldsCT00
You can see the wonderful personality right in McLovin’s face! Beauties, both of them
merrinc
@Blue Raven
I misread the description; the rescue folks believe she’s either a Rag Doll or a Maine Coon mix. You can see her here:
petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=15166726
Anne Laurie
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
Twenty years ago, there was a woman in Ohio trying to create a registerable Polydactyl “breed”… and she was working with Maine Coons.
I assume she hasn’t succeeded yet, because the beings in charge today are not Maine Coons-with-thumbs. Admittedly, MCwT would be an improvement over the talking slime molds now sucking up all the Media Village Idiot attention.
Cathaireverywhere
They look like they could be brothers of my affectionate/naughty boy, Jones, thumbs and all! We adopted Jones from a shelter 5 years ago. He is a beautiful, wonderful boy.
Cow cat- love it! My boy is white underneath with a black saddle. The picture of Bueller could be of him.
Cathaireverywhere
@merrinc- what a beautiful girl. The owner is a jerk. I hope she has a home soon.
Some Guy
McLovin and Bueller are both part Maine Coon. McLovin is polydactyl. His right back leg is not, but his back left has an enormous thumb. I throw wine corks to him while he lays on his back on the steps and he catches them like catcher behind home plate. Bueller is so fluffy this winter, he looks like a black and white yak. We have started calling him yak-boy.
More pictures of the lads here (and some of our other cats).
Skepticat
@merrinc: What does need have to do with it? Sounds as though it’s meant to be. That lovely cat looks like a Maine coon to me, and they’re super cats. Go for it!
@Just Some Fuckhead: I’ll probably be able to fulfill your caring, sweet request before too long.
I brought home the white cat who is not-Tunch-yet-still- wonderful from the vet today after his surgery. He was a bit wobbly on his feet at first, but looks good and is settled comfortably beside me on the couch. The vet was surprised at how well he tolerated the surgery, how well his kidney values held up, and how he was chowing down enthusiastically as soon as he awoke. Amazingly, he also kept down the food and continues to do so. They don’t have second biopsy results to know which meds to give him, but should receive them soon. Thus far I’m happy with the decision to keep him alive despite the poor prognosis–and the very high cost that seriously exacerbates an already serious financial situation.
Thanks for all the kind words and support.
Annie
@merrinc:
She should have dumped the new beau…I would have.
patrick
We just rescued a black lab/german shepard mix today from our city shelter.
We calls him Rosco.
He’ll be under the tree for the boys on Christmas Day.
Yutsano
@patrick: I predict much rambunctiousness and huge smiles from your boys. Oh and they’ll most likely rename him. I suggest not fighting that.
EDIT: Oh and PICTURZ PLZ!!!
ono
McLovin is double pawed, an added bonus.
Gidget, one of my cats (all rescued), is double, double pawed, and has 26 toes, 8 more than the average cat. (Count the number of toes on the back feet of your cat.)
merrinc
Yeah, I don’t get dumping the cat for the new boyfriend. I guess it’s the difference between treating furred beings as part of one’s life rather than just another possession.
Patrick, what a wonderful Christmas gift! My son will be 18 next month and says his favorite Christmas memory was coming downstairs when he was 4 and finding a golden retriever with a red bow on her neck sitting beside the tree. That was the year we’d watched Homeward Bound oh, six or seven hundred times and the only thing on his Santa list was a “Shadow doggie.” A local GR rescue troop helped facilitate the adoption for us.
Mnemosyne
@Some Guy:
We also have a giant tuxedo cat that’s at least part Maine Coon. The deciding factor was that he’s a 15 pound cat with a teeny-tiny meow. Every time we take him to the vet, someone in the waiting room becomes convinced we’ve brought in a kitten and is shocked when they actually see him. One of his many names is “Mr. Meeps.”
What happened was, a few months after Natasha passed, I was walking through Petco to get some cat food for Boris and I passed a rescue group that was packing up for the day. I paused for a minute and this little black-and-white kitten reached out between the bars of his carrier and grabbed onto my arm.
I had to talk G. into it because he had absolutely adored Natasha and wasn’t quite ready for another cat (especially since we were getting married in a month) but he agreed to go take a look at him if he was still available after the wedding. And here he is with our other two, Charlotte on the left and Annie on the right. No, I don’t know how G. got them to all sit together.
asiangrrlMN
Aw, I am loving Bueller and McLovin, and I really really really needed this after today. Thanks, Cole for the pick-me-up.
@merrinc: Go for it! Count me in the contingency of people who would have dumped the beau and kept the cat. She’s gorgeous.
@Skepticat: I’m glad Rorschach’s surgery went well. Please keep us updated.
And, Cole, TUUUUUNCH!
+1
Kayla Rudbek
Dang, now I want to get a pair of tuxedo cats and name them Schleswig and Holstein…
Tagg
I would like to highly recommend this extraordinary Lab rescue group which is part of the Labrador Retriever Club of the Potomac. We got our wonderful girl Kara from them in 2005. What makes these breed rescue groups so special is that each and every dog when rescued is put in a foster home for a number of weeks where they are evaluated for behavioral problems, obedience training, friendliness with other animals and especially suitability for homes with kids. Which means you know what you are getting from the start. They also spay or neuter the dog as well as having them brought current on their vaccinations.
They have a wonderful website and even if you aren’t in the market for a rescued dog, you can donate on-line and the group is a registered charity and your contribution is tax deductible.
Merry Christmas!
Darcy
@Some Guy:
Those are beautiful pics. Thanks for that :)
Jay C
I get it about cat people and their SO’s – my wife is one, and when she was single, she would let her cat Melissa vet her dates (allergics never even got a callback): negative reactions would usually include things like scratching them, or crapping in their shoes; the last was not a good sign. Fortunately, Melissa loved me (cats do, for whatever reason), and so we’ve been together 27 years now (my wife & I, that is: Melissa, sadly, moved on many years ago).
Phoebe
@merrinc: Go get that cat! Or at the least, tell the people you will come back if it’s not gone before xmas. It might not have that long, you know?
I agree with Jennifer@6, and all who agree with her. The cat was there first, and if the guy is so very precious and special and you can’t dump him, then fine, live apart, and see him elsewhere than your apt. until the cat dies of natural causes. It’s not like if you dump the bf, he’s going to end up in a fucking cage and possibly euthanized.
Mnemosyne
There are times when it’s necessary to re-home a pet, and it’s sad, but sometimes allergies really are so severe that they can’t be managed, or a new pet doesn’t get along with existing pets and needs a new home, etc.
That said, however, if you find yourself in a situation where your pet has to be re-homes, it’s YOUR responsibility to find the pet another home, whether that means taking out an ad on Petfinders or canvassing all of your friends and acquaintances. Dropping the pet off at a shelter is dodging your responsibility towards that pet and it makes you an asshole.
norma
What to do? Right now we are feeding 6 strays, it is winter and cold, but we already have 6 cats[all strays] and feel lousy because we just can’t do any more. I wonder at these people that get cute kittens, don’t spay or neuter them, then throw them out when they are not little and cute anymore. Our Humane Society would just have to “put them down”[ hate that expression, so are we hurting them or helping them? Norma